This online publishing site has the tools you need to plan, design, and package your game. You provide the idea, and they provide the raw materials needed to turn your idea into a real product you can sell on their site.

So what's your great game idea? Is it a card game? Will players move around a board? Do you need dice or pawns? What are the rules of the game? You must gather this information before you can start to design your game.

Before you begin, you might want to explore the site to see what other games are available, or check out the professional competition at a good games site like boardgames.ca.

When you're ready, the first step of the process is to estimate the cost of the raw materials for your game. How many decks of cards are needed? How many pawns or dice? You select the items you need and the quantity needed then The Game Crafter cost estimator shows the per-game cost of those items. This information will help you to make some important design decisions early, instead of later, when you're choosing a selling price for your game.

The next step is to gather the art and documents that will be used to create your game. The Game Crafter offers free templates you can download and use (or give to a professional designer) to create the artwork for your game. You can decorate the back and front of your cards as well as the back and front of the game board. Pre-measured templates, designed for Photoshop and Illustrator and other popular design tools, provide helpful guidelines for this work.

You also need to create at least one document: a set of rules that explain how to play your game. When the design and writing work are done, upload your documents to the site and choose how they will be used.

Adding parts is easy as well. Chose pawns, dice, and other game pieces then select "add parts to game" to update your project.

Finally, The Game Crafter asks you to enter some information for a game profile that will appear when shoppers are browsing. Your game needs a name and a brief description, plus some details like the number of players, game category (e.g. strategy, family) and the retail price.

Once you're satisfied with your game, click the Publish button. This publishes the game in the online store for The Game Crafter, where it is available to site visitors to buy.

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